In the summer months, my mother would stock up on spices, dried fish, prepare pickles and preserves to savour throughout the year. With the salted dried fish, she would pickle them in a spicy vinegar paste called para. Left to mature for a couple of months and during the monsoon season, when fresh fish is scarce, the para was fried in little oil, served with rice and sorak (plain curry) or dal. Alternatively, the fried pickled fish was shredded, served mixed with some sliced red onions, green chillies and lemon juice.

Before preparing the para, ensure to dry the fish in the hot sun. The spice paste should be ground only with vinegar. Like my mother, I have used dried mackerel and soley (skate fish or waghole) which were washed in vinegar, arranged in sterilized jars, with the vinegar spice paste poured over, covering them completely. Left to mature for two months. When ready to consume, use a clean dry spoon to remove the amount of fish required to fry. Once fried, the fish is mouthwateringly delicious with a combination of spice, sour and salt. A perfect accompaniment to a plain humble meal and an amazing traditional pickle. My favourite which I have been preparing every year to relish and comes in handy when needed.

This is my mother's recipe which has extra spices than most recipes. My website is all about honesty and it gives me great joy to share what I have learned from her. She used dried ginger, which is grated and then ground. Why dried instead of fresh, as it is more potent and adds a punch. Also, the inclusion of nutmeg, green cardamoms, mustard seeds and cumin seeds made the para more flavourful and tasty.

Method:Remove the heads and fins of the salted dried mackerels. Clean and cut the waghole into desired pieces.

Wash the fish in 1 cup vinegar and arrange vertically in a wide-mouthed sterilized jar till all the fish is tightly packed. Discard the used vinegar.

Using a flat hand grater, first grate the dried ginger. Also, grind the mustard seeds to a powder.(Note: Important to follow the above or else they won't grind with the rest of the ingredients.)

Now blend all the ingredients to a paste with 3 cups of vinegar. Transfer the spice paste into a bowl and mix in the remaining 2 cups of vinegar after running some of it through the blender used for grinding. Stir the paste to combine and then pour over the fish.

Ensure to cover the fish completely with the spice paste. If needed, add some vinegar.

Leave to mature for two months so that the fish soaks up the spicy marination.

To serve:Using a clean dry spoon, remove the required amount of fish needed for consumption. On low heat, shallow fry fish with little oil, a couple of minutes on each side. (Fried fish last picture above.)

Serve with rice and sorak or dal.

Alternatively, the fried fish can be deboned and shredded into pieces, mixed with some sliced red onions, chopped green chillies and a dash of lemon juice.

Note:

This pickle will last for a year or longer. Ensure that the fish is covered with the spice vinegar paste at all times.

Cumin seeds and turmeric powder not shown in the picture but were included in the paste.